Netflix to the rescue to freshen your June viewing
From scares to superheroes to musicals, we share our top picks to join your list.
How is it June already? ❚ This year has been tumultuous and fast-paced, to say the least. The coronavirus pandemic has made time feel meaningless for many of us as we stay home, but even so, it seems like 2020 is rushing by faster than a superhero could run. ❚ And although we can’t explain what happened to the first five months of the year, we can celebrate that a new month means new offerings on streaming services like Netflix, so you can distract and soothe yourself with a new crop of TV shows and films. Here are the five best Netflix options in June, whether you want an inspiring reality show, a classic film or some super friends.
If you need a guaranteed uplift: ‘Queer Eye’
A new season of Netflix’s sunny series couldn’t have come at a better time. The Fab Five – Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown and Tan France – parachute into the lives of their subjects and offer as much help, inspiration, hugs and tears (the good kind) as they possibly can. Their antics range from silly to meaningful, and each season has at least one or two episodes that will make you bawl.
❚ Season 5 is now streaming.
If you miss superheroes on the big screen: ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’
CW superhero shows sometimes feel like they’re a dime a dozen, but among the generic crimefighters, there is some really good television. On the surface, “Legends” looks like the most expendable of the DC series, which started with a handful of guest stars from “Arrow” and “The Flash.” But with some smart scripts, a dynamic super team and a hefty dose of
romantic drama, “Legends” has become one of the best comic book shows on TV.
❚ Stream Season 5 on June 10.
If you want to be scared: ‘Hannibal’
Perhaps the goriest show ever made on broadcast TV, NBC’s Hannibal Lecter series is a treat for fans of intense horror and Mads Mikkelsen, in that order. The series centers on the relationship between the famed cannibal serial killer (Mikkelsen), first seen in “Silence of the Lambs,” and an FBI profiler (Hugh Dancy). Only here, Dr. Lecter is still a free man, a forensic psychiatrist helping law enforcement while secretly carrying out murders.
❚ Now streaming.
If you want a big movie musical: ‘West Side Story’
Stephen Spielberg’s remake of this 1961 film, based on the Broadway musical, is still far off, but the original film is a classic for a reason. The songs, the stars (Rita Moreno! Natalie Wood!), the rival gangs fighting with dance! It’s fun, a little campy and will leave the gorgeous music stuck in our head for days.
❚ Now streaming.
If you miss your mom: ‘Lady Bird’
Mother/daughter relationships are endlessly complicated, and no filmmaker has understood the complexity better than director/writer Greta Gerwig, in her Oscar-nominated film. Starring Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf as a daughter and mother who can’t communicate, “Lady Bird” is funny, moving and deeply affecting.
❚ Now streaming.